


Worth It

by CrazyNights



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Accidentshipping - Freeform, Aunt Rio is the best headcanon, Christmas Story, Cross Over, Dangershipping, F/M, Family time, emotional moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28329300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyNights/pseuds/CrazyNights
Summary: It's Christmas morning at the Kamishiro mansion. But when you have young children, it doesn't matter that you didn't go to bed until late night Christmas Eve. When the kids wake up, it's time to open presents. A quick fluff one shot of Christmas with Kamishiro family. And who decides to make a surprise stop this early in the morning? Read and find out. Rated T for minor language.
Relationships: IV | Thomas Arclight/Kamishiro Rio, Kamishiro Ryouga/Mizuki Kotori
Kudos: 6





	Worth It

The sound of little feet running across the marble floor had Ryoga cracking his eyes open. Blue eyes looked at the high ceiling as he waited for the little footsteps to stop at the end of the bed. Turning his head, he looked at his wife as she continued to doze. They had not gone to bed until late, with their busy schedules, they had not been able to wrap the presents until last night.

“Do you think mama and daddy are awake?” the whispering voice of Ruri echoed in the silence.

Ryoga smirked and blinked the tiredness from his gaze. There was no escaping it, having two young children meant that Christmas was all about them. He didn’t move his body quite yet though. Wanting to see what the little ones would do, if neither of their parents made the first move.

“They were up late. I saw the lights coming from the large room.” Shun spoke just as quietly.

Finally giving up, Ryoga laughed. He could picture the two of them freezing, like thieves in the night caught red handed. “I’m awake you two. Kind of hard to sleep when I hear the pitter patter of tiny feet.”

There was silence for the briefest of moments, then he could hear both sets of feet running for the bed. Shun helped Ruri up onto the king size bed on the raised platform. Then he scrambled up. Once both were on the bed, they crawled on hands and knees to where the parents were still laying down at the head of the bed. Ryoga sat up and smiled at them and their bright smiles back lit up even the darkest parts in his stained soul.

Shun physically looked more like Kotori. Dual colored green hair, his bangs parted to the side. He wore dark pajamas with different types of birds across the top. His gold eyes were alight with the childhood innocence of Christmas morning. Ryoga’s eyes slid to his daughter as she crawled into his lap. She could have been his female version. Her purple hair was down to her shoulders and messy from sleep. Her magenta eyes reminded him of Rio, as they were wide and lit up. She ran tiny hands over her green pajamas with flowers across the top and bottom parts.

There was movement beside him, as Kotori stirred. One arm came out from the covers and rubbed her eyes. Slowly she lowered her arm and gold eyes looked to her family. Shun moved forward and laid next to Kotori. She smiled and brought him closer, kissing his forehead and laughing when he squirmed in her hold.

“So we have two little alarm clocks today?” Kotori asked. She looked at Ryoga with a tired half smile.

Ryoga laughed and nodded his head. Using the hand that wasn’t holding Ruri, he ran it through his purple hair, moving the longer strands out of his face. Looking between Shun and Ruri, and their pleading puppy dog eyes. Sighing, he looked at his wife and with his eyes asked if she was up for letting them open presents this early.

Kotori sighed and nodded her head. She expected to have the kids wake them up at some point, she really should have seen this coming. Throwing back the thick covers, she stood up and stretched. The short purple nightgown she wore shifted and he saw a glimpse of her upper thigh. She reached over and pulled on a thin silk white and red robe. Tying it she looked at the three still on the bed and motioned with her head.

“Well, are we going to see what Santa brought you two?” That was all it took for both of them to try and scramble off the bed.

Ryoga on instinct, snapped his hands out to grab the two of them before they fell off the bed. Sighing, he looked to Kotori and she had her hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh at the look. Ryoga had his hands wrapped around the middle of his kids and was preventing them from falling from the bed.

“You two need to learn to think before you move. I don’t want you falling off and hurting yourselves.” Shaking his head, he let them go and slid off the bed himself. Reaching over to the nightstand, he grabbed one of his hair ties and pulled his hair back. There were a few strands left resting on his cheeks, he brushed aside and smiled at the two kids pouting up at him.

“Daddy!” Ruri whined. She was only five and very loud when she wanted something. She was just like her Aunt in that respect.

He laughed and reached down to pick her up and held her against his chest. Shun looked at them and started to scoot off the bed. He moved carefully now and slowly slid down from the bed. Once little feet touched the floor, he smiled at his parents and sister as he took off out of the room. Ruri squirmed in Ryoga’s grip until he set her down and she took off after her brother.

“Wait for me Shun! Don’t open the presents before me!” Her voice trailed off as she vanished around the corner and down the hall to catch up to her brother.

Kotori and Ryoga looked at one another and for a moment there was silence. A few seconds later, they started laughing and walking out of the room. Sliding an arm around Kotori’s waist, he pulled her against his side and kissed her temple. She was not what he expected for himself to fall in love with. She used to be so focused on Yuma, it seemed like Ryoga never had a chance. When they were in high school, she seemed to not be as interested in Yuma romantically. They ran into one another in the shopping center one day and spent it together. The rest was history after that.

They made their way through the hallway and reached the main room where the Christmas tree was set up. The large, red area rug with the gold trim sat in the center of the room. The grand stone fireplace was one side of the room, away from the door. Ryoga had insisted that the suit of armor be moved to stand against the wall next to the door, so nothing would happen like it did in the past.

The tree was to the right of the fireplace, far enough away that any stray embers would not catch it on fire. The tree was eight feet, with blue and white lights wrapped around. Gold garland and plethora of different ornaments. A massive amount of presents wrapped in bright wrapping paper were under the tree. Shun and Ruri were sitting in front of the fireplace with their stockings in front of them.

“All right you two, move away from the fireplace. Your father is going to start a fire and we can go through your stockings then start to open presents,” Kotori said as she and Ryoga walked into the room.

Shun and Ruri looked at them and smiled, while nodding their heads. Ryoga with one last kiss on Kotori’s cheek, moved into the room and opened the black wrought iron gate to get into the fireplace. He placed a log in there and after striking a match, he threw it on the log and watched the flames come to life. He closed the gate partially, so neither of the kids could get close enough to hurt themselves.

Turning around, he looked at the sight before him. Kotori was sitting in the wooden rocking chair that had been there since his childhood. She crossed her ankles and was watching the two of the kids ruffling through their stockings. Shun was nearly eight years old and was hoping for Duel Monster cards and things related to dueling for Christmas. Ruri, wanting to follow in her big brother’s footsteps, wanted something similar. However Ryoga and Kotori agreed she was too young at five years old.

The tradition Kotori had introduced to him was that the stockings were personal products. Things such toothbrushes, toothpaste, bath time products. Necessities that both kids needed, and as usual, both went through the stockings and things were scattered around them. They looked at the adults.

“Thank you,” they said in unison. Eyes quickly darting to the tree where actual gifts were waiting to be opened.

Ryoga laughed and walked over to the tree and sat down cross legged. He started to go through the packages and grabbed two small ones. Holding them out, Shun and Ruri grabbed the gifts he held out to them. Eyes lighting up and joy crossing their faces. They each shook the carefully wrapped packages and tried to figure out what was inside them based on the sounds each made.

When that didn’t work, they decided to just rip them open. Both Ryoga and Kotori laughed, their children were excitable and demolished the wrapping paper in one single rip. Ruri’s eyes lit up as she looked at the fairy princess doll. It was dressed in a pink dress and had long pink hair. She gasped and jumped up. Holding the doll close to her chest, she twirled around and ran to her mom and hugged her legs.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she exclaimed over and over. Ruri had seen this doll a couple of months ago, and asked for it. When Kotori told her to wait for Christmas, she pouted, but let it go. She let go of her mother and ran to her father. He opened his arms and she ran into them. Hugging him tight, she repeated the sentiment to Ryoga. She pulled back and danced around with the doll for a little bit more.

Shun laughed at his sister and finished opening his gift. Eyes widening, he looked to his parents in awe. Inside was a D-Pad. It was a child version of one, but it was what could be used to attach to the wrist and activate the duel disk. He held it gingerly, as if he was afraid of accidentally breaking it. He looked down at the pad and once again to his parents. Both of them were smiling at him.

“Dad, are you going to teach me how to duel?” Shun asked. He had heard that his father was once a great duelist, but he rarely dueled anymore.

Ryoga was still for a moment, his eyes solemn as he looked at his son. Gold eyes lit up with childish glee at the question. Ryoga didn’t want either of the kids to start learning how to duel until they were at least 10, but Rio had started teaching Shun behind his back. When he found out, he was furious. However he realized that he didn’t want to leave Shun’s education in dueling to Rio and Quattro. That was just asking for trouble when those two were involved.

“We can start some lessons. This version of the D-Pad is specifically designed for kids who are starting out to learn dueling. We are going to be going slow, but yes.” Ryoga smiled as Shun’s face broke out into a grin. “I will start teaching you just like you want. We can go over decks later today if you want. I-”

Ryoga was cut off when Shun launched himself at his dad. Tiny arms wrapped around Ryoga’s neck and his face was pressed into the large chest and Shun hugged Ryoga as if his life depended on it. Eyes softening, Ryoga returned the hug, and closed his eyes as he hugged his son back. Shun was slightly reserved for a seven, nearly eight, year old. So when he showed emotion like this, it was a treasure.

The sound of ‘clicking’ and a little flash alerted both father and son to the fact that they just had their picture taken. They turned and looked at Kotori as she lowered the camera with a smile. Ruri was standing by her legs, giggling and holding the doll close to her. The two females shared a look and then Kotori started laughing as well.

“Thanks dad. I’m so happy you are going to show me how to duel. Both Aunty Rio and Uncle Quattro talk about how awesome you are. Even mom says you are a totally awesome duelist.” Shun smiled and let go of his dad to walk over to his mom and give her a hug as well.

Ryoga was slightly shocked that Quattro and Rio said that about him. Rio was the typical younger sister, it didn’t matter that was minutes and not years younger. She loved making his life hell. Quattro and Ryoga have a strange relationship. They were friendly as they got older, but there were still some antagonistic moments between them. It seemed as if it was ingrained in Quattro’s personality. Rio, Ruri and Shun appeared to be the only people he was truly soft for.

They continued in this line of giving presents to the kids. Ruri was given a couple books in the series Ryoga and Kotori were reading to her. A few more toys and some clothes. Shun was given a couple of books on dueling that Ryoga promised to read with him. He was given a deck holder and finally they were on the last gift for Shun.

Ryoga stood up and walked over to the mantle over the fireplace. There was a locked box on it, and he opened it. Reaching in, he pulled out a card that he had not used for a long time. He bought another copy of it so his son could have one as well. He looked down at the black background of the XYZ monster. Black Ray Lancer was his original ace card before Shark Drake. Turning around, he walked over to Shun and held the card out, with a half smile on his face.

“This is for you. Black Ray Lancer was my ace monster for a long time. I found another one, and am giving this to you. I hope it helps you achieve whatever goals you have as a duelist as well.” The card was in Ryoga’s extended hand and Shun looked at it with wide eyes. His small hand came up and grasped the card gingerly.

Looking down at the card in his hands, Shun felt his eyes water. His dad was giving him such a powerful card, and was entrusting him to use it right. He looked at his dad and jumped into his arms and hugged him once more. He always wanted his dad to teach him to duel and duel with him, and now he had one of his dad’s best monsters.

Ryoga laughed and hugged Shun tightly to him. At this moment, he knew he made the right decision to give him the card. It clearly meant a lot to him and he would treasure it. Shun hiccuped suddenly and that was when he noticed that his sleep pants were slightly wet. Moving him back, Ryoga kneeled in front of his son and wiped the tears coming down his cheeks. A gentle smile on his face as he hugged Shun once more.

“I know you will always take care of this card. You will know how to use it and I will make sure you are able to duel like a champion. After all, you have a lot of talent running through your veins. Your Uncle Quattro is a professional duelist and your Aunt Rio can easily hold her own. Then there is your mom and me. We know how to kick butt in a duel,” Ryoga said with a half laugh.

Shun pulled back and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his nightshirt. “Thanks dad. I will take good care of it. No matter what, this will always be part of my deck.”

Before anyone could say or do anything more, there was a knocking at the door. Kotori looked at Ryoga in confusion. It was Christmas morning, early morning at that. They were not expecting anyone. The other emperors knew not to disturb their time with their kids on Christmas. Ryoga threatened death in the most painful way possible. The knocking intensified until Kotori stood up and walked out of the room to go see who it was.

The three in the room, heard tinkling laughter. Ryoga sighed and shook his head, he knew that laughter. Rio had come over, probably wanting to give the kids their gifts and not wanting to wait until later like they planned. Shun and Ruri both smiled as Rio and Quattro came into view with Kotori trailing behind them, smiling.

Rio was dressed in a dark pink sweater with a high neck, and dark pants that hugged her figure. Her dual colored blue hair was fanned out behind her and her ruby eyes glinted with glee as she smiled at her niece and nephew. Quattro was in his usual white and gold jacket. His dual colored hair of red and yellow was as messy as Ryoga had ever seen it. He wore brown boots and navy slacks with a black shirt under the jacket. Red eyes that used to hold cold cruelty shone in a way that showed his other side. The criss-cross scar over his right eye and down his cheek was prominent as ever.

“What are you doing here so early you two?” Ryoga snapped out.

“Well if you have to know dear brother, we are heading to the Arclight estate for Christmas dinner. We wanted to make sure the kids got their gifts. And Quattro and I have a gift for you and Kotori as well,” Rio said innocently. Her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Ryoga looked to Quattro as if he expected the other male to explain. All his brother-in-law did was smirk and shrug his shoulders. Ire built up in Ryoga’s mind and he clenched his fists, ready to throttle Quattro and Rio.

“Aunty Rio! Look what dad gave me!” Shun exclaimed as he ran to Rio and Quattro holding out the card.

Rio smiled and kneeled down to get on Shun’s level. When he thrust the card in her face, she couldn’t contain her shock. Looking up at her older brother, Rio and Ryoga communicated with their eyes. Quattro and Kotori looked at each other and laughed. The twins had a special way to communicate and the spouses had long since accepted it.

“Well, that is so wonderful Shun. Your dad treasured that card and now you have one.” Rio reached in her pocket and pulled out a small square package and handed it to him. “Open it, Shun. This is from your Uncle and me.”

Shun smiled and grabbed the little package. He opened the little box and inside was an XYZ monster called Raidraptor-Revolution Falcon, and three winged beast cards known as Raidraptor- Wild Vultures. The four cards were Winged Beast types and what Rio had shown Shun when he was younger.

“Aunty Rio these are amazing!” Shun exclaimed and held the cards close to him. “Are these really for me?” His eyes were wide and the gold in his eyes glinted.

“You bet,” Rio responded with a smile at her nephew. She turned to her brother and smirked. “After all, I know your dad is going to start teaching you how to duel. So I want to make sure my nephew has the best cards available.”

“Rio, have I ever told you, you are a holy terror?” Ryoga asked, face as dry as his tone.

“I know she is. That’s why I love her,” Quattro said. He gave Ryoga the same smirk that he always did. The one that usually ended up with them fighting.

Rio laughed and stood up to move closer to Quattro, where Ruri had come up and clung to his legs. Shun adored Rio, the same way Ruri adored Quattro. Ryoga was equal parts glad he had two powerful duelists like those two on his side, but on the other hand, they got under his skin like no others could. Not even Vector managed the way Rio and Quattro could.

Kneeling down once again, Rio riffled through her dark red tote bag to pull out a small package for Ruri. She closed her eyes and smiled widely as she gave it to her niece. Ruri looked at it for a moment, and putting her Fairy Princess Doll in the crook of her elbow, she grabbed the small beautifully wrapped package. Her magenta eyes looked at her Aunt and Uncle before going back to the present.

“This is for you dear.” Rio smiled gently at Ruri. She knew Ruri was on the quieter side and when with family she was outgoing, but she was often soft spoken when she was unsure.

Ruri smiled and opened the package. When she saw what it was, she gasped and let out a squeal that rivaled Rio’s best. Ryoga and Kotori looked down at it and immediately rolled their eyes. It was a new season of Ruri’s favorite show, and it was signed by one of the voice actresses. One that Quattro met when he was on circuit tour and managed to charm an autograph out of the young actress.

Ruri laughed and launched forward to hug Rio. After that she jumped up and Quattro laughed as he caught her. Bringing her in for a quick hug, he kissed her cheeks and set her down. Ruri’s eyes were alight with so much happiness, Ryoga and Kotori had to smile with her.

“Thank you!” Ruri squealed. “I can’t believe it! This new season hasn’t come out yet!” With the DVD collection and her doll in her arms, she twirled in circles.

“Well, I think we lost our daughter for the day,” Kotori laughed. Ruri ran up and held the set out to her.

“Can we watch it? Please, please, please mama?” Ruri begged.

“We will watch it later dear,” Kotori said softly. She looked at Ryoga and was trying desperately to not laugh.

Rio stood up once more and looked to her husband. They shared a look and nodded to one another. Ryoga had a foreboding feeling settle in his gut as he looked at them. Rio picked her bag up and pulled out one last thing. It was a large rectangle shape. Rio passed it to her brother and smiled sweetly at him.

Ryoga took it and was shocked at how heavy it really was. He turned it around his hands and narrowed his eyes at the two in front of him. “Is this going to blow up in my face when I open it?” he questioned sarcastically.

Rio narrowed her eyes and puffed her cheeks out in her annoyance. It was clear some things never changed, no matter how much time passed. Quattro laughed and rubbed Rio’s back to calm her down.

“No, this might actually surprise you Ryoga… but this is kind of a sentimental gift.” Quattro’s eyes went uncharacteristically soft. “Rio and I spent months putting it together, and all joking aside, we do hope you like it.”

Kotori walked up to Ryoga’s side and touched the wrapping paper. She looked at Rio and Quattro, then looked back to the package. “Well, I am now curious. Let’s see what it is, Ryoga.” She gripped one corner and waited for him to do the same. “On three.”

Ryoga nodded his head. “One, two, three.” They ripped it open together and noticed it was a black leather book. 

The front had a picture of Ryoga and Kotori from their wedding day. Their family name was written in calligraphy across the top with silver ink. Ryoga was in his black suit vest and Kotori in an ivory dress. They were staring at one another, the love clear on their faces.

Kotori opened the cover and it had pictures of them from when they started dating in high school. Ryoga leaned against his ride and Kotori in front of him. They appeared to be talking, and it was clear neither knew their picture was being taken. Below it was the date and a little quote about intimate moments. The next page was them at a concert Ryoga had performed at, he had his blue bass around him and he had an arm around Kotori’s shoulders. Both were smiling into the camera. Well Kotori was smiling, Ryoga was smirking. The date was also below the image with a quote about following their song of life.

The entire album was chronologically their relationship. It went up into the birth of Shun and family pictures with him as a baby. Ruri’s birth was documented there too and pictures with the family. Kotori felt her eyes get wet as they went through the thick album. The last picture was taken a few days ago when all of them were standing in front of the house with snow around them. All were bundled in winter wear, Ryoga had Ruri in his arms and Shun was standing in front of his parents, a small smile on his lips. The quote written in beautiful silver ink said; “Treasure each and every moment you have.”

“Rio,” Ryoga whispered. His voice was choked up, he couldn’t believe his sister had come up with such an idea.

Rio moved forward and leaned into both of them. “See, I can do something sweet. I’m not a total hellion.”

“Language!” Kotori snapped out on instinct. She didn’t want her kids picking up such bad habits, such as swearing at a young age. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her sister-in-law. Even before she and Ryoga started dating, she and Rio had become very good friends. “Thank you. Thank you both for the wonderful gift.”

“Glad you like it.” Rio looked at both of them and moved back. “Well, Thomas and I need to get going. We need to make it to the Arclight estate before nightfall. Christopher gets pissy when we are late.”

Quattro chuckled under his breath, it was clear he still lived for pissing off his older brother. Kneeling down, he held his arms open for the kids to give him a hug. They did and thanked him for their gifts. Smiling, he ruffled the hair on both of them. Rio knelt next to him and they hugged her next. Repeating their thanks, they all stood up and the Kamishiro family walked the couple to the main door and waved them off.

“That was really sweet of Rio and Quattro to do,” Kotori said as they all walked back inside.

Ryoga nodded his head in agreement. He was honestly shocked how much thought went into their gift alone. Then giving Shun his favorite monster type and Ruri her favorite show, signed by the famous actress. They put a lot of thought into the gifts this year and it was clear.

“I love the album. That needs to be out on display,” Kotori said with a smile.

They reached the room again and the kids were on the floor with their gifts around them. The fire was still going strong and it illuminated the room in a warm red-gold hue. Shun was looking at the cards he was given and had the duel books in front of him. Reading how he could combine them and create the two XYZ monsters he was given this year. Ruri was skipping around the room with her new doll in her arms. She was singing and dancing around the room.

As Ryoga looked at the scene in front of him and then to the side where his wife was under his arm, he realized everything he went through had been worth it. The harsh battles, the death, the hell he lived through as a Barian and in charge of an entire world still… it was all worth it. Getting to see this kind of scene, it warmed the darkest parts of his soul. It made him feel that maybe, just maybe, life was worth it all in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone had a wonderfully Merry Christmas. And for those that don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful holiday. This was a quick one shot about Christmas, kind of based on my family. My brother and I would wake our parents up super early when we were younger. It didn't matter that my parents didn't wrap presents until late Christmas Eve, they were woken up early and we all were in the living room with presents and stockings. Loosely based on my family with traditions. Comments and thoughts welcome. Hope you all enjoy and stay safe and warm this holiday season.


End file.
